My kids, both weighted GPA 4.1, seriously considered
Juniata
Ursinus
SMCM
Wooster
Ohio Wesleyan

All awarded significant merit, bringing the cost in line with in-state costs.
Ursinus and Ohio Wesleyan offer automatic merit, so you can easily see what the offer will be even before applying.

(They both ultimately chose other schools, mostly for location-based reasons rather than the schools themselves)

If you are in VA, Mary Washington has a similar vibe for an even lower cost.

And before someone asks, one had an SAT above 1500 and the other (this year) applied test-optional everywhere so scores are irrelevant.

My kids got lots of merit aid from all CTCLs they applied to.

We also liked some CTCLs in the pacific northwest, especially Puget Sound. Tacoma is a really nice city. The campus is stunning. The school leans left politically but also has a group of very pre-rofessional students. It's not far from Seatac so getting there is easy if you're willing to fly.

Whitman is more remote, being a few hours drive into Eastern Washington, but also fantastic.

Willamette is also nice. It's near the Oregon State capitol and pretty close to Portland.

There's also Reed, but that's a more intense academic experience than the others.

Anonymous wrote:CTCL schools aren't worth anything close to sticker price. But if you're good enough to get a lot of merit aid from them, you can get into a much better college that actually has a name. Therein lies the rub.

The prestige obsession on here really bothers me. A lesser known school may be a fantastic fit for a student and the environment and supports may help a student graduate that wouldn’t or do better than they would have. This craziness over rank causes so many problems and so much anxiety with our students.

Honestly, from an employer’s perspective, there is not much difference between a school ranked at 50 and a school ranked at 80. I hire at work for good jobs (many entry level). I am not concerned where someone went as long as they have a decent GPA and got the degree. I do look askance at for profit and fully online programs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We also liked Wooster.

Anyone know why Wooster's graduation rate is so low? It is consistently below 75%. Most second-tier SLACs that attract similarly qualified students (e.g., Sewanee, Furman, Rhodes, Centre) hover around 80%. Are kids leaving because they don't like the campus or the culture, or is the school not doing enough to support kids who might be struggling (which I thought was the entire draw of a CTCL school)?

Many CTCL schools have questionable graduation rates. It's because they attract less than stellar/motivated students in the first place.

Rhodes and Centre are CTCL schools and have higher graduation rates than Wooster. Sewanee and Furman aren't CTCL schools but might as well be as they are very similar to the first two. The CTCL schools with low graduation rates tend to also have low incoming student stats, but that isn't really the case with Wooster. So there must be something else going on.

Eckerd is a cool place. The kids are definitely quirky but the marine biology program attracts serious kids and the program is a standout.

Here is where fit comes in. Great marine biology program, smaller school, nice weather, pretty campus. Pets allowed! The rest of the school’s programs aren’t notable, but so what? If the above checks all the boxes, go for it. If she’s going into marine biology she will need a graduate degree. She can thrive at the school she has a great fit and apply to so-called brand name schools for grad schools.

People getting hung up on names for undergrad...that’s just silly. And limiting!

Anonymous wrote:Back to the topic: I’d love to hear more about Eckerd College, especially their marine science program. This would be for a bright kid with high scores and grades. Lives for marine science but is a biting an introvert and would likely get just in the snuffy at a large college. Thank you

If your child is female, consider Mt. Holyoke. Check out this program that they are part of:

https://www.fivecolleges.edu/marine

St. Mary's College of MD is also a good place to study this aspect of science (though not as specialized as Eckerd). My daughter has the same interest and was told (by people in the field) not to specialize before grad school, so she is a Biology major.

and list in the shuffle. Silly autocorrect on phone

Obviously not biting! Just a bit introverted and not at all cut throat

Back to the topic: I’d love to hear more about Eckerd College, especially their marine science program. This would be for a bright kid with high scores and grades. Lives for marine science but is a biting an introvert and would likely get just in the snuffy at a large college. Thank you

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We also liked Wooster.

Anyone know why Wooster's graduation rate is so low? It is consistently below 75%. Most second-tier SLACs that attract similarly qualified students (e.g., Sewanee, Furman, Rhodes, Centre) hover around 80%. Are kids leaving because they don't like the campus or the culture, or is the school not doing enough to support kids who might be struggling (which I thought was the entire draw of a CTCL school)?

Many CTCL schools have questionable graduation rates. It's because they attract less than stellar/motivated students in the first place.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We also liked Wooster.

Anyone know why Wooster's graduation rate is so low? It is consistently below 75%. Most second-tier SLACs that attract similarly qualified students (e.g., Sewanee, Furman, Rhodes, Centre) hover around 80%. Are kids leaving because they don't like the campus or the culture, or is the school not doing enough to support kids who might be struggling (which I thought was the entire draw of a CTCL school)?

I would guess that it is because of the nature of the independent study project. As I understand from our investigation of the school, the entire academic experience is oriented around preparing students for and supporting them through the IS. It's a pretty unique experience and I can definitely see a student getting there and finding out research at that level really isn't their thing. You can't just opt out of it. My DD is interested because research is her thing and they have great outcomes for PhDs

Anonymous wrote:CTCL schools aren't worth anything close to sticker price. But if you're good enough to get a lot of merit aid from them, you can get into a much better college that actually has a name. Therein lies the rub.

But when we looked at them those so-called better schools would come with the $70K+ price tag. Not worth it IMO.

Anonymous wrote:CTCL schools aren't worth anything close to sticker price. But if you're good enough to get a lot of merit aid from them, you can get into a much better college that actually has a name. Therein lies the rub.

Lots of people (myself included) experience no “rub.” I got tons of merit aid AND it was my first choice. Strange how you can’t fathom this scenario.

Anonymous wrote:We also liked Wooster.

Anyone know why Wooster's graduation rate is so low? It is consistently below 75%. Most second-tier SLACs that attract similarly qualified students (e.g., Sewanee, Furman, Rhodes, Centre) hover around 80%. Are kids leaving because they don't like the campus or the culture, or is the school not doing enough to support kids who might be struggling (which I thought was the entire draw of a CTCL school)?